In mayoral election, San Antonio was a city divided

1of7Leticia Van de Putte addresses the crowd at her campaign headquarters in San Antonio, Texas on Saturday, May 9, 2015.Photo: Carolyn Van Houten, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

2of7"We are in the runoff!" shouts Mayor Ivy Taylor as addresses her supporters at SoLuna in San Antonio on election night, Saturday, May 9, 2015.Photo: Lisa Krantz / San Antonio Express-News

3of7Roger Poupart, Senior Pastor at Wayside Chapel, prays with Mayor Ivy Taylor after he voted at Huebner Elementary School. Taylor greeted voters upon their arrival at the school to vote as she campaigned to keep her position as mayor on election day in San Antonio on Saturday, May 9, 2015.Photo: Lisa Krantz / San Antonio Express-News

7of7San Antonio mayoral candidate Tommy Adkisson, right, pats fellow candidate Mike Villarreal on the arm as the two work the polls at Huebner Elementary School on Saturday, May 9, 2015.Photo: Bob Owen, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

San Antonio was sharply divided in the mayoral election, with Mayor Ivy Taylor faring best on the North and East sides while Leticia Van de Putte performed well on the West and South sides, according to preliminary voting data released Monday.

In a nonpartisan municipal election, the results often followed predictable partisan lines. Many conservatives who live on the North Side supported Taylor, who had voted against San Antonio’s nondiscrimination ordinance as a city councilwoman and scuttled a controversial streetcar plan as interim mayor.

But Taylor’s dominance on the North Side could be challenged in the June 13 runoff against Van de Putte, who was the top vote-getter in Saturday’s election.

In precincts where Taylor won, Van de Putte was often neck and neck for second place with former state Rep. Mike Villarreal, who didn’t make it to the runoff but came in a close third place behind Taylor with more than 22,000 votes citywide.

Adkisson Taylor Van de Putte Villarreal Tie

If enough of Villarreal’s supporters gravitate to Van de Putte as a fellow Democrat, that could give her a strong edge in the runoff against Taylor.

The fourth-place contender in the race, former Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson, won more than 8,300 votes citywide and led in precincts on the Southeast Side. His supporters could also help sway the race.

“I think Ivy Taylor has a difficult road ahead,” said Henry Flores, a political science professor at St. Mary’s University. “I see most of Mike’s votes going to Leticia. And probably Tommy Adkisson’s too. She may be topped out, unless the overall (voter) turnout goes higher.”

Van de Putte’s campaign manager, Christian Archer, put it another way: “Those are votes that are up for grabs.”

Taylor did not return messages Monday.

County election officials published results for each voting precinct that reveal where each candidate had the strongest — and weakest — support in a tightly contested race.

Van de Putte, a former state senator, performed best in places such as Precinct 1006, a Democratic stronghold on the South Side that falls within her former Senate district. In that precinct, Van de Putte won half of the 223 votes.

On the North Side, Taylor was often the victor, sometimes by wide margins. In Precinct 3088, an upscale enclave on the far Northwest Side north of Loop 1604, Taylor won half of the 335 votes cast.

While Taylor was a North Side favorite, she also performed well in East Side precincts, where she served as a city councilwoman for District 2.

Overall, more San Antonians voted for Van de Putte — but not by much. Nearly 26,000 people voted for her, while 24,245 people voted for Taylor.

In this election, every vote counted. The turnout was less than 12 percent of the 821,615 voters registered in the city and suburbs that held elections.

Villarreal won precincts in the city’s urban core and parts of the East and North sides. But he didn’t muster enough votes to make it to the runoff: He came in third place with 22,246 votes.

Villarreal said he's received calls from both Taylor and Van de Putte but is still talking to supporters to decide who will win his endorsement. Van de Putte said she's already reaching out to Villarreal's supporters.

“I’m going to go after anybody and everybody in different parts of this city to win this election,” Van de Putte said.

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